


just a quick pinch

by kinebu



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Mostly Platonic, Needles/Shots, but there are feelings if you squint, donghyuck is his emotional support boy, mark gets his flu shot, yuta makes a cameo as a nurse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:41:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28702326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kinebu/pseuds/kinebu
Summary: “how was your doctor’s appointment?” donghyuck had queried, devilish smile curling at his lips and voice dripping with mockery. “punch any nurses in the nose? or, better yet, knee any in the nuts?” all mark could do was flush beet red, mortified, as donghyuck cackled in glee.or,mark is afraid of shots and donghyuck plays the role of supportive best friend
Relationships: Lee Donghyuck | Haechan/Mark Lee
Comments: 4
Kudos: 77





	just a quick pinch

“lee minhyung?”

donghyuck snorts, earning a mild glare from the jumpy boy beside him, as the nurse, a young man who looks fresh out of med school with his wrinkle-free face and pristine teal scrubs, scans the waiting room patiently. hesitantly, mark raises his hand, catching the nurse’s eyes before he starts his second trip around the room. 

“that’s me,” he murmurs meekly. the nurse smiles brightly as he opens the door a tad wider, beckoning mark forward. 

mark finally stands, his nerves clear in the slight clenching and unclenching of his fists, the way his tongue darts out to moisten his lips (for the _thirty-second time_ since they’d entered, donghyuck observes, unhelpfully). donghyuck stands after him, keeping close behind the anxious pile of limbs that comprises his best friend as he starts towards the door.

the nurse, _mr. nakamoto_ as his name tag reveals, raises his eyebrow slightly, almost imperceptibly at donghyuck’s trailing form. “and you are…?” he inquires, and the flush that appears on the back of mark’s neck almost pulls a laugh from his best friend. 

mark clears his throat, and donghyuck’s grin widens, the hint of smugness barely visible behind his seemingly-innocent smile. “uh, this is my friend donghyuck. he’s here be–”

“–for moral support,” donghyuck cuts in, watching the dusty pink on mark’s nape creep around to his cheeks. “our _minhyung-ah_ is still a little scared of needles, so of course i took it upon myself to accompany him and support him in facing his fears.”

the pretty pink dusting mark’s neck darkens to a deep red, tinting the entirety of his skin beyond the loose collar of his t-shirt, and donghyuck can’t help but admire how nicely the flush contrasts with the vibrant green cotton. (of course, he’d never admit this aloud. instead, as they sat in mark’s dorm afterward, he’d exclaim he looked “ _like a fucking_ watermelon, _mark!_ ” as tears of joy slipped through his eyes, nearly sobbing in laughter.)

even the nurse was suppressing a chuckle, the mischief glimmering in his eyes _almost_ identical to that in donghyuck’s. “oh, of course,” he says lightly, mirth dancing in his tone. “we wouldn’t want you to have to go through this challenging experience alone. come, you two, we’ll be in exam room four today.”

donghyuck didn’t even bother concealing the peal of laughter that erupted. mark hastily grabbed his hand, dragging him into the hallway behind the nurse as the other occupants in the waiting room eyed them curiously.

after reviewing his name and date of birth (three times, for two different nurses), mark was left to sit patiently, legs dangling from the inspection chair as the paper beneath his thighs crinkled with each movement. his eyes darted, restlessly, around the room, examining the various posters and papers covering the drab, beige walls. and as riveting as the differences between viruses and bacteria were, they couldn’t keep his mind occupied for long. he sighs loudly, redirecting his gaze towards donghyuck, only to find the other boy’s eyes already on him.

“ready for your flu shot, big boy?” he asks, eyes alight. mark just chuckles in response, shaking his head as he lowers his eyes to fingers, fiddling with the hem of his t-shirt. when he glances back up, a fond smile has replaced the teasing grin on donghyuck’s face, and mark can’t help the grin tugging at his lips in response. “seriously, though, how are you feeling?”

the maliciousness that laced his voice earlier is nowhere to be found, and mark finds himself momentarily flustered at the real concern behind donghyuck’s words. sighing, he runs his hand through his hair, messing the dark brown locks. donghyuck’s eyes are kind, patient, as he waits for mark’s response.

“alright, i guess?” donghyuck’s eyebrow twitches upward, and mark can hear the _really?_ before it even leaves his mouth. “okay, fine. not great, to be honest. i know it sounds stupid, and i don’t even know where it comes from, but needles just really freak me out? the thought of willingly having one plunged into my arm kinda just makes me want to vomit. or pass out. either would be fine—and plausible.”

donghyuck’s smile grows impossibly softer at mark’s rambling, head tilting slightly as he takes in the rare sight of his usually-composed best friend all worked up over a little needle. mark can’t help the mini swirl of butterflies that erupts in his stomach at the sight, unable to discern what part of the sensation is from donghyuck and what part is just the thought of his impending shot. 

“it doesn’t sound stupid,” he starts, thoughtfully, a playful grin gracing his lips. “a little childish, maybe–” mark whines in indignation, pulling a laugh from donghyuck, before he continues. “but not out of the ordinary. there are plenty of people who are afraid of needles, mark. remember that time jaemin almost passed out when the nursing school held that blood drive?”

mark snorts at the memory, the image of jaemin’s pale face as he spotted the white truck and of jeno having to carry him all the way back to their dorms flashing through his brain. “yeah, i guess you’re right,” he admits.

“plus,” donghyuck adds, “you just so happen to have the absolute _bestest friend in the whole world_ here to support you and hold your hand through it all.”

donghyuck’s laughter shatters the sentimental atmosphere that had just begun to cumulate, and mark swings his arm out, only managing to snag the shoulder of donghyuck’s long-sleeved tee from his perch on the exam table.

of course, donghyuck already knew the horror stories that comprised mark’s gruesome history with shots. mark’s mom was all too happy to share the tragic tale of his first shot as a child, one drizzly afternoon when donghyuck had come over to see mark, only to learn he was at a doctor’s appointment. only two months old, baby mark been brought in to receive the typical barrage of childhood vaccines: rotavirus, dtap, hib, pcv, polio—the abbreviations were innumerable, and most of which stood for illnesses the lee’s had never heard of, but certainly didn’t want their precious baby boy getting sick with. 

“i swear, in the two months he’d been alive thus far i’d never seen him as upset as he was when the nurse pulled out that first needle. he was _screaming_ and _wailing_ and thrashing his teeny fists all over the place; he nearly gave his dad a black eye with the amount of punches he was throwing.”

it had taken three nurses, both of mark’s parents, and an obscene amount of stickers just to keep baby mark still enough to sit through the full roster of vaccines, his bawling and squawking ricocheting off the walls of the tiny exam room like bullets and streaming down the hallway.

“you’d have thought the poor kid was being murdered with how loud he was shrieking! i thought for sure i was going to show up to my next ear appointment with partial hearing loss,” mrs. lee recounted. she gestured wildly as she spoke, much like how the very son she was discussing would later pick up himself. the amount of times donghyuck had almost taken a flailing mark hand to the face himself must have rivaled the number taken by mark’s dad during that first appointment. 

ever since that wretched first visit, mark’s loathing for shots had only snowballed. at six months old, getting his third hepatitis b dose, he’d tugged so hard at the male’ nurse’s beard that he managed to rip an itty bitty fistful of hair out. when he received his first flu shot at eleven months old, he’d intentionally knocked over the nurse’s supply cart when she turned her back to grab a pair of gloves, the vial shattering on the floor and spilling everywhere, while all the no-longer-sterile equipment and syringe had to be thrown away and replaced.

the double-whammy second doses of mmr and varicella at five years old had resulted in him kicking the same male nurse from years prior—beard no longer present, although he’d certainly made sure to wear a mask this time to protect his mustache—in the groin not once, but _twice_ . (mark never did see that nurse again. although, as his mother later learned and relayed to him, mortified, from her own visits, he very much _did_ still work there, just refusing to come in when he saw mark’s name on the patient schedule.)

the most embarrassing anecdote, though, had to have been when mark was twelve. after suffering through his first tdap and hpv shots (he’d almost sobbed when his primary care doctor told him the hpv vaccine came in a three-dose series), he was already nauseous, face pale and hands clammy where they rested on his thighs. the nurse, a kindly middle-aged woman with blonde, slightly greying locks drawn back into a loose bun who always wore brightly colored scrubs, was preparing the third and final syringe: his first meningococcal disease vaccine. the sight of the sickeningly silver needle drawing up the sinister fluid, combined with the ache pulsing out like radar pings from the two _octonauts_ bandages already plastered to his right deltoid, was the last straw, and he vomited all over both the nurse _and_ the floor. although the nurse had tried to sooth him, cooing reassurances of _it’s alright, sweetheart_ and _it’s not your fault, you’re not the only person afraid of shots_ while they transferred him to a new exam room and janitors descended upon the old room to clean the mess, he’d bawled all through the rest of the appointment, choking out apologies until he’d been led back to his mother in the waiting room. 

“oh, but nothing is worse than when they have to draw blood,” mrs. lee had moaned, launching into another horrific tale of the first time mark needed blood tests. fifteen at the time, he’d managed to keep it together for all four vials, clenching his jaw so hard it looked as though he’d crush his teeth under the force and keeping his eyes raised to the blinding fluorescent lights overhead. after sending the vials off to the lab and disposing off the needles, the nurse asked mark to follow her back to the waiting room. he couldn’t even manage a step in her direction before he fainted, crashing backward into the exam table and tumbling to the floor in a heap of awkward, pubescent limbs. when he came to minutes later, he was surrounded by nurses and doctors alike, gently hoisting him into a sitting position, pointing lights in his eyes and shoving paper cups of cold, metallic-flavored water into his hands. “i almost fainted myself when they told me what happened,” mrs. lee explained as she cradled her third cup of tea, donghyuck grinning into his second.

when mark finally arrived home thirty minutes later, greeted by the sight of donghyuck and his mother giggling over their steaming mugs, he was horrified to find his best friend hanging on the end of his mother’s every last word as the madwoman had the _audacity_ to disclose his deepest fear. 

“how was your doctor’s appointment?” donghyuck had queried, devilish smile curling at his lips and voice dripping with mockery. “punch any nurses in the nose? or, better yet, knee any in the nuts?” all mark could do was flush beet red, mortified, as donghyuck cackled in glee.

despite teasing mark ruthlessly in the weeks that followed, donghyuck became a sort of support system for him moving forward, as if in return for learning mark’s deep dark secret, he vowed to become mark’s very own “scary shot protection squad” (donghyuck’s word, not his). donghyuck never failed to shower mark in reassurances and (admittedly, adorable) _good luck!_ texts before each of his future doctor’s visits, even accompanying him when both mr. and mrs. lee were busy with work or running late, held back at the office or in grueling rush-hour traffic. 

which, _unfortunately_ , was why donghyuck had been the one to take his parents’ place once mark went off to college, no longer able (or, quite frankly, _willing_ ) to bring his mom and dad along to his annual flu shot appointments.

“i should have just asked jeno to come with me,” mark groans. 

“oh, but where’s the fun in that?” donghyuck sings

the sound of a knock at the door catches both their attention, donghyuck’s laughter fading to quiet as the quickening of mark’s heart thumping in his chest replaces it. he swallows thickly, willing the rapidly-beating organ to calm down. at his side, donghyuck shoots him a final, reassuring smile, and although it does nothing to slow the erratic rhythm of his heart, it does settle some of the churning in his gut. 

the door opens noiselessly to reveal a third nurse, this time a short, younger woman, who backs into the narrow room with an equally tiny cart in tow. a spotless silver tray sits on top with various packages, bandages, and vials laid out neatly across its surface. smiling kindly, mossy green eyes crinkling behind the red frame of her glasses, she again confirms mark’s name and date of birth.

she chatters aimlessly in an attempt to ease mark’s mind, asking about his classes and commenting on the beautiful weather today as she tugs on a pair of amethyst-hued rubber gloves and sets about preparing her equipment. when she finally opens the syringe, sterile plastic packaging crackling like lightning in the shoebox of a room, a new wave of fear lurches in mark’s stomach. he feels queasy watching her draw the clear fluid from the glass vial into the barrel, needle glistening evilly in the glaring artificial light. 

as if he could sense the clenching of mark’s jaw from his seat, donghyuck reaches out to uncurl mark’s fingers from where they’d clamped into his thigh, replacing the rough fabric of mark’s jeans with his own warm, calloused fingers. he squeezes, and mark momentarily forgets about the sinister gun being loaded in front of him, relishing in the feeling of the rough patches of skin at the base of donghyuck’s fingers from hours spent holding a paintbrush or gripping chisels for his sculpting basics course.

that is, of course, until the tell-tale swipe of a disinfecting wipe over the outside of his upper arm, leaving an icy damp trail in its wake, snaps him back to the current reality. 

“alright, you ready minhyung? just a quick pinch, and we’ll be done here,” the nurse says sweetly, flicking her dark brown bangs from her eyes and smiling in his direction as if she isn’t wielding a fucking _weapon_ in his direction. he opens his mouth to respond, the words _no thanks, now put down the fucking needle please_ sitting heavy at the back of his throat, but opts to shut it again instead. 

he feels another squeeze around his fingers, this one a tad firmer, yet just as warm and grounding as the last, and it takes all mark has in him to clamp down the sob bubbling in his chest. turning his head slightly, he catches donghyuck’s reassuring gaze already laser-trained at his eyes, and for a second mark considers asking donghyuck to kick him in the shin so that he has something to distract him from the satanic death machine hovering just below his shoulder.

but donghyuck just smiles at him, all warm and comforting and almost desperate, as if trying to silently convey that _we don’t have all day mark and the nurse is starting to get impatient, now get your shit together and let’s get this over with._ taking a final, shaky inhale (and trying damn hard not to cringe at the deeply sterile, sanitized smell that floods his senses), he nods, fearful eyes not leaving donghyuck’s encouraging ones.

“okay, i’m ready.”

in the next instant, he feels the dreaded pinprick of the needle piercing his skin, flinching and clamping down impossibly harder on donghyuck’s fingers as the vile liquid streams into his muscle. he wants to scream, he wants to cry, and most of all he wants to unload his breakfast all over the stupid, off-white linoleum-tiled exam room floor. but, instead, he tries to focus on donghyuck’s hand in his, grip hard but unbelievably tender, as though cradling a baby bird. he roots himself in those calluses, imagining the breathtaking paintings and arresting sketches created in return for the leathery patches of skin scattered across donghyuck’s palms and fingers like constellations in the night sky.

before he can get too lost, the feeling of warm, latex-gloved fingers and a plaster being smoothed over his reddened, slightly throbbing arm brings him back to the exam room. 

“great job, minhyung, you did well. thank you for your responsibility in choosing to get vaccinated this year. you can see yourself out once you’re ready, feel free to take your time, and have a great rest of your day!” the nurse is saying cheerfully, although her voice sounds as though its filtering through a layer of gauze before reaching his eyes. 

he faintly registers donghyuck’s equally sunny voice responding with a “thank you”, the whoosh and click of the door sweeping shut behind the nurse as she exits, and the rustling of donghyuck’s clothes as he stands, a light _poof_ as the seat cushion reinflates beneath him.

mark blinks, willing away thin layer of fog blanketing his brain, and realizes his hand is still clutched within donghyuck’s. he coughs once, twice, gingerly slipping his fingers from their cozy placement between donghyuck’s own, the standing boy just continuing to grin at his marginally dazed friend.

“earth to mark,” he says gently, unhurriedly drawing his hand away and retrieving his keys from his pocket. “ready to get going?”

blinking the last shreds of haziness from his mind, he manages a weak “yeah” before timidly lowering himself from the exam table, the paper beneath his hands crinkling loudly. he stays quiet as donghyuck leads him from the room, floating out the waiting room and automatic doors loosely. finally out of the stuffy, overly-sanitized hell-hole, mark allows himself to greedily drink in the fresh air outside as his senses finally return to him.

by the time they’ve made it back to donghyuck’s car, mark is able to breath easy again, sliding into the passenger seat with a huff of finality. donghyuck starts the engine, tuning into some top 40 station on the radio and backing out of his tightly-wedged parking spot. as they at last pull out onto the main road, mark shoots donghyuck a grateful smile. 

“hey, thanks for coming with me today. it…it really meant a lot to me.” 

donghyuck chuckles, momentarily drawing his eyes from the road to grin fondly back at mark. “oh, don’t be such a sap. that’s what best friends are for: to hold your hand through the hard times, and maybe give you a little bit of shit along the way.”

mark just laughs as donghyuck returns his focus to the cars ahead of him. “you love it when i’m a sap, just admit it,” he teases. he lets himself admire donghyuck’s side profile from his seat, biting his lips as he says, much softer, “plus, you’re the only person i’d ever want to hold my hand through these god-awful appointments.” 

the faintest blush dusts donghyuck’s cheeks as he flicks his gaze over to mark, fondness etched in his deep brown orbs. “yeah, whatever _minhyung_. just try not to crush my hands in your death grip next time.”

and if mark is slightly less terrified for his next shot, then, smiling as donghyuck flusters in the passenger seat, that’s his business.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm back with another one (although, admittedly, this one is much worse than my first sjdzzgejbe). i got the inspiration for this after having to get my men b shot the other day and the soreness in my arm for the next few days was a GREAT motivator to write. so, here we are! 
> 
> i felt like the ending here was a little unsatisfactory, so i may end up writing a sequel or second chapter, if you guys would be into that? maybe where they actually get together, or after-the-fact. but, let me know if you guys have any ideas or what you'd like to see, and i'd be more than happy to write it!
> 
> thank you for reading, kudos and comments are much appreciated, and stay safe and happy ♡


End file.
